Working Partnerships Usa

Working Partnerships USA's breadth of work is truly impressive. From creating cutting edge public policy to getting people out to vote...they are about making real change in peoples lives in Silicon Valley. Proud to work with them in my capacity in the community.

Working Partnerships USA is by far one of the great leaders in Social Justice in Silicon Valley. They have and continue to be on finding cutting edge solutions for the ongoing struggle to insure that the people who truly make Silicon Valley profitable- the working class people-share in the wealth. The dedication to social justice by the staff and volunteers, serves as a shining example to all who desire to make a positive change in the community at large. They stand on the right side of history, and I am proud to stand by them!

Charles Justin Wilson III, Board of Directors
African American Community Service Agency

I've had the good fortune to see Working Partnerships USA in action and to work on many of their campaigns. When people ask me what WPUSA is and what it does I say this: Working Partnerships is a nonprofit organization that furthers the interests of working families.

Working Partnerships USA is full of excellent leadership, compassionate and committed staff that work hard every day to improve the lives of working families in Silicon Valley. Through research, policy and advocacy, they build coalitions of everyday residents, nonprofit organizations, labor groups, business leaders and religious clergy – groups that might not typically stand together – to advocate for greater access to health care and fight for a fair working wage. For 20 years they have established themselves as an organization that knows how to drive real change, and their success has resulted in better wages, and more affordable access to health care, housing and transportation for all that live and work in Silicon Valley.

Working Partnerships is a global leader in addressing the challenges of working families in a dynamic economy. This is a rare organization that is proficient at both articulating and researching problems and designing and implementing innovative and collaborative solutions. The staff is uniformly top-notch and routinely produces compelling and through provoking research. They have extraordinary connections with a diverse array of Silicon Valley institutions. As a manager of a non-profit workforce and economic development agency, I view Working Partnerships as an indispensable partner in our quest to promote prosperity for all.

There are plenty of worthy charity organizations that raise funds to provide a specific service to the community. Food, shelter, health care, etc. - these non-profits deserve our support as we cope with the day-to-day needs of families struggling to make ends meet.

As we support these organizations, it's important that we not lose sight of the bigger challenge of resolving the tough issues that impact working families. That takes an organization with a capacity for research, analysis and public policy development, an organization with deep roots in the community, and an organization not afraid to stand up to powerful interests.

In Silicon Valley, that organization is Working Partnerships USA. No other local group has a better track record when it comes to developing and advocating for solutions that impact the working poor of this region. From healthcare for low-income kids to affordable housing, Working Partnerships has been a champion for innovative public policy and civic engagement.

As a community, we need to ensure that kids have enough to eat today, and that families have a place to stay the night. But we also have a obligation to come together and solve these issues. We can do both, but only with organizations like Working Partnership USA.

Working Partnerships is an organization that leads by examples. As an organization, it puts its values first and the needs and rights of working families are of paramount importance. It's not easy to to do work for the voiceless, but the team at Working Partnerships are incredible and tireless on the key issues in the Silicon Valley- a living wage, affordable housing, immigration reform.

The lack of cooperation of Working Partnerships with regards to disclosure of funding sources concerns me,

It was well documented in the following post on San Jose Inside.

http://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/entries/1_25_13_working_partnerships_usa_irs_election/

It seems the lines between advocacy and machine politics in this group are blurred.

This organization deserves way more scrutiny like it's starting to receive in the local press since Cindy Chavez is now running it. For an example of how things are run, check out the LA Times stories on how Martin Ludlow ran the LA equivalent of the South Bay Labor Council.

From Wikipedia --
In April 2006, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Horwitz sentenced Ludlow to three years' probation and $45,000 in fines and costs for conspiring to illegally divert school employees' union funds to his 2003 election campaign. Ludlow was banned from holding elected office for four years.[14] In June of that year, federal Judge Manuel Real sentenced him to five years' probation and 2,000 hours of community service and ordered Ludlow to return $36,400 to the school employees' union. Ludlow was barred from serving in leadership position with any union for thirteen years. Ludlow had earlier been fined $105,000 by the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission for violating city campaign laws.[15]

WPUSA shares offices, exec team, staff, volunteers, copying machines, office supplies and telephones with a politically active AFL-CIO labor council. It pays large salaries to a former councilwoman and mayoral candidate, the head of the local Democratic party and the chief political strategist of what local newspapers describe as a political machine. Campaigns are actively run and candidates are endorsed in the same offices. Two closely aligned office holders — one a convicted councilman and the other a sitting county supervisor — have had well publicized corruption issues. Hard to see how it can honestly answer "No" to question 3 of part IV on the 2010 Form 990 "Dld the organlzatlon engage In dlrect or lndlrect campalgn actlvltles on behalfofor In opposltlon to candldates for publlc offlce?" Also note tax investigation in notes on Form 990 and late filing of 2011 forms.

This is basically a funding device for the South Bay Labor Council's political activities. Shares offices with a politically active union organization and employs people who are actively involved in lobbying and campaign activities.